Cybersecurity
Facebook Accuses Staff at Russia's Sputnik of Fake Accounts
- Social media giant said it deleted 289 pages, 75 accounts
- User behavior, not content, cited as reason for removals
Photographer: Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images
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Facebook Inc. said it disrupted two campaigns run by fake accounts with links to Russia and its Sputnik news service as it continues to grapple with misinformation on its platform.
Facebook removed 289 pages and 75 accounts it says were engaged in inauthentic behavior in one of the operations. In a blog post Thursday by Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy, Facebook said around 790,000 accounts follow one or more of the pages, and $135,000 was spent on ads, which were paid for in euros, rubles, and U.S. dollars.